Paper as produced by paper mills is normally provided in the form of massive rolls of continuous sheet material wound as a roll on a tubular core of material such as cardboard. Such rolls are typically 5 to 12 feet long, up to 8 feet in diameter, and have a weight of 1 to 4 tons. Further processing of the rolled-up paper requires placement of a generally cylindrical core plug or chuck within each end of the core. The plugs serve important functions in protecting the ends of the roll from damage and in providing a structure for rotatably mounting the roll on a pair of spindles of a mill stand, from which the material may be unwound in a controlled manner.
Industry practice for placement of core plugs to enable grasping and moving of paper rolls has comprised manually lifting and inserting the plugs by sliding them axially into the ends of the cores. This practice has presented a problem in that most core pugs have a weight in the range of some 50 to 125 pounds, which is just heavy enough to result in frequent back injuries to workers. In addition to the weight of the plugs, the awkward positions required to be assumed for this operation increase the likelihood of injuries.
In addition to the elimination of manual lifting steps in handling of core plugs, a need exists for securing them in position during necessary movements so as to preclude their sliding off of lifting equipment or damaging of end portions of the rolls.